Panama: two construction sector trade unionists murdered
Two trade unionists have been murdered in Panama for opposing mass dismissals and the obligation to join the yellow
union, SINDICOPP, controlled by construction giant Norberto Odebrecht. The ITUC, which has three affiliated
organisations in Panama (Confederación de Trabajadores de la República de Panamá (CTRP), Confederación General de
Trabajadores de Panamá (CGTP) and Convergencia Sindical (CS)) has firmly denounced and condemned these murders.
On 14 August, Osvaldo Lorenzo Pérez, leader of the Sindicato Único Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria de la
Construcción y Similares, SUNTRACS, was shot dead by a worker hired by the Brazilian construction company, Norberto
Odebrecht, whilst demonstrating with a group of workers for the reinstatement of some 100 unfairly dismissed workers. In
March 2007, SUNTRACS had launched a major campaign denouncing the violation of health and safety standards in a bid to
halt the wave of deaths and the deterioration of working condition in the construction industry.
Luigi Antonio Argüeles, another SUNTRACS trade union representative, was shot dead by a police officer on 16 August, as
he headed for MAQTEC SA with a group of workers to present a formal resolution issued by the Mayor of Balbo ordering the
company's closure for failing to comply with municipal bylaws and to demand the payment of the wages owed.
In a letter (http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/asesinato_de_dos_sindicalistas_de_SUNTRACS.pdf ) to the President of
Panama, the ITUC joined with its regional organisations, ORIT and CLAT, to express its vehement condemnation of these
murders and called on the government of Panama to carry out a full investigation into each murder, to arrest the
intellectual and material authors, try them before a competent, fair and impartial court, and sentence them in
accordance with the law.
The ITUC also called on the government of Panama to ensure respect for the fundamental workers' rights enshrined in the
Republic's Constitution, Labour Code and the ILO Conventions that have been ratified by Panama and are therefore legally
binding, particularly Convention 87 on freedom of association and protection of the right to organise and Convention 98
on the right to organise and collective bargaining.
ENDS